A Siren Among Us
by Inspirationbynight
Summary: I didn't die when Galaxia-sama took my bracelets. That's good, but I can't go back home either. What's a siren to do? Oh this brave new world with such heroes and villains in it! Mr. Cobblepot has been so generous to take me in but he's not interested in Star Seeds, what can I do to pay him back? JLU and Batman: TAS 'verse where The Penguin gets to shine but it's not a pairing.
1. Chapter 1

SLPASH!

The familiar pressure embraced her and the soothing salt clung to her skin, scales, and hair. The coolness filled her nose, down her throat, bushing her inner gills, awakening them from long disuse in a rush that woke her senses before she knew what was going on.

Her body remembered the open sea and pushed itself into the undulating motions towards the depths of safety.

Home.

But not.

Pale aqua eyes took in her dark surroundings even as her mind was firing off multiple signals; swim! Feel! Breathe! Pain! Oxygen! Water! Go up! Swim down! Kick!

She looked up and swatted at the pale blue tendrils around her.

Oh.

That was her hair.

A flash of light temporarily blinded her. She flailed her arms about and bubbles surrounded her.

"Well...it wasn't my fault..."

"Please give her another chance, Madame Galaxia!"

"NO! No! No!"

Blinking furiously, her eyes took in her pale,white, bare arms.

"My bracelets..."

She floated in blue, letting the fragments of memory become whole as the sea life around her resumed their swimming as if a stranger hadn't canon balled herself into their calm waters.

Well, technically she hadn't. It seemed she had been inadvertently sent to another planet. As well traveled as she was, the first order of business was to take in the seascape and find out what kind of planet she landed on.

Kicking her feet-"where are my shoes?"- she swam towards the surface and broke through with a gentle ripple.

Second order of business was to get new shoes. Those had been quality pumps on the last world she had been on. And new clothes. One outfit does not a wardrobe make.

There! In the distance to her right was the unmistakable silhouette of something that didn't stretch out into eternity. She knew better to assume it was land. It could be someone's space-home headquarters like the one she had previously been employed on. It could also be a pile of garbage. Those so called "plastic islands" made her blood boil with indignation. Her teammates quickly ratted her out to the boss lady about "Siren's blowing up islands again!" Those weren't islands. It was floating filth.

In the haze of her thoughts she almost missed the school of fish below her as she swam toward her goal. Diving down for a quick meal—What time was it anyway?-she made quick work of several of the tasty morsels and resumed her path.

+.+.+

"Hey, Dave? Do you see what I'm seeing?" a trim blonde in fashionable "marine" garb and red sunglasses pointed out towards the ocean.

A striking young brunet turned his head away from the stern to where his girlfriend was pointing. It looked like someone swimming, but he couldn't be sure. It was _something _but it moved in and out of the waves too quickly.

Suddenly the something jumped out of the water and landed elegantly on his yacht. Light blue hair to her ankles quickly began to fluff out as if the water was being leached out of it from an invisible source while her pale skin grew luminous under the setting sun, becoming opaque. Bright aqua eyes took him in—huh, no whites—and a pearly lips formed into a sweet smile as her pale hand tapped on a shell-shaped pendant.

"Hi, I'm Siren! I'm looking for a ride to land. Are you heading that way?"

The young couple nodded mutely as they're wide eyes took in the stranger with her strange, but cute lingerie, stood on deck oblivious to their shock.

"Great! Thank you so much for taking me. I'll just sit here." Siren sat next to the blonde and began chatting animatedly as Dave took the yacht back.

+.+.+

As Siren stepped off the yacht, Bethany pleaded with her again. "Stay with us! We really don't mind."

Dave nodded enthusiastically, "Really!"

"Oh no, that's a faux pas I couldn't commit. You two enjoy your honey moon. And save some for later."

"We could...we could take you wherever you want to go!" Dave offered.

"You wouldn't have to work! Or if you want to—do you sing?" Bethany's eye lit up.

Siren hesitated. "Well, I used to work part time for a record company...but that was under cover...and then Madame-" 

"Perfect! You'd be a hit! Bigger than Ariel! Everyone will love you," Dave cried out, moving towards the dock. Fortunately, his shirt got caught on one of the steering spokes.

"I could do that again," Siren mused to herself. She bowed quickly to them. "Thanks again for the ride. You should head back to where you were going."

The couple jumped to do as she said and were soon out of sight.

"Hmm, I should have asked where the nearest restaurant is." Siren shrugged and walked among the yachts when a car door slammed nearby, pulling her attention the the penguin-head men that had exited.

"Oh my."

Sire slunk closer, slipping into the water and under the planks where the half-bird men stood. For all the people she had seen and after all the planets she had visited, she had never seen men like these!

Someone else spoke among them, but she couldn't tell who except for the shoes. Said shoes that belonged to the quacky voice were nice. Patent leather or real, polished to a high shine that was noticeable even in the night. Siren approved.

Suddenly there were sharp thunks followed by large thuds that shook the beams above her as the penguin-headed men fell or ran about above her.

A high pitched beeping was all Siren registered as her body tensed and she went below just as an explosion briefly lit the dark and sent shrapnel into the water around her.

Time for a different vantage point.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: It's been awhile (again) since I wrote anything and I forgot in the first part, but here it is: I do not own Justice League/Unlimited, Batman TAS or Sailor Moon in any shape way or form or any of the characters. This was spur of the moment when inspiration sang to me. It's for fun only. Please support the official release.

Gingerly getting to his feet, Oswald Cobblepot, better known to many as The Penguin, took a cautious peek around the crate one of his henchmen had hid him behind. That nosy bat had nothing to pin to him this time! Why, all the nerve! So the club's seafood delivery was tomorrow. So he decided to pick up his own merchandise. So what? The bat shows up and-

Penguin stopped muttering to himself upon contact with a pair of aqua eyes above the waterline before him. The eyes didn't blink but a watery hand threw a mutilated fish at his feet, just far enough away to not splash his shoes.

Realizing his mouth was hanging open in a most unbecoming manner for a gentleman of his stature, he proceeded as if he had done no such thing, smoothing the back of his hair. Where did the hat go?

"Oh, um, hello?"

The same watery hand held up a crab claw and offered it to him but the creature did not move forward.

"Ah, yes, that's mine. Or what's left of it no thanks to that bat!" He turned in the direction of where the fight had taken place. His eye behind his monocle twitched at the sight of his unconscious men.

The crab claw landed by the fish remnants, just in time for him to catch sight of the creature's head disappearing into the water.

"W-wait!"

With a splash, the creature—a woman!- landed on deck, holding a crate in her arms as if it weighed nothing. She put the crate down between them, clearly putting a barrier neither could cross with ease. Then she stepped around it and stood before him in all her strange garb. The strange ribbons crossing her face did not hide her curiosity even has her fingers tapped rhythmically on her shell pendant in growing agitation.

"Hello. I'm Oswald Cobblepot."

"Seiren desu. Animamate-anno-" She pulled of her shell pendant and her eyes widened in dismay. The Penguin didn't have to be a detective to deduce that she wasn't from around here and the trinket she kept tapping was some kind of communication device that was no longer working.

Holding up his hands in what he hoped she would understand as a non-threatening gesture, he spoke calmly. "There, there my dear." She turned to him. "It's all right. Let's take this nice and slow. Jane and Tarzan if you will."

Pointing to himself he repeated his name then gestured for her to do the same.

"Seiren."

"Lovely. Siren."

"Seiren. Say-rlen."

"You'll have to forgive me my dear. I'm a little rusty on my foreign languages but I'll give it my best. Seiren."

She nodded with a pleased, though tight smile. Her distress sweeping over her features like the tide on the beach.

"Are you Atlantean by chance?" Her fin-like ears coming to his attention as the little details of their brief encounter came into focus. In the water where his shipment came in. Her foreign but lyrical voice and words. Her strange but aquatic-like outfit. He gripped the air for his missing cane. He hoped it was with his hat as much as he hoped she had no affiliation with that Justice Leaguer.

She tilted her head to the side, a pale finger tapping her cheek thoughtfully as she considered him.

"Animamate...ja nai," She rubbed her bare wrists. It was a phantom sensation on her skin that insisted what she had was no longer hers.

They had exchanged names. His was terribly long and without her universal translator working, it wasn't easy to understand him. She knew he was asking about her and though she could tell the short gentleman her life story he wasn't going to know what she said.

She rubbed her arms and looked mournfully over at the water. All that food wasted.

"You're cold! Of course you are. Oswald, you bird brain, you're a gentleman aren't you?"

Seiren regarded him with surprise as he offered her his coat. She took it with a smile and draped it over her shoulders. What a kind man! She thanked him as he stood before her with an odd expression, as if she wasn't what he was looking at. Seiren hazard a look over her shoulder but could find nothing amiss.

She turned to look back at the small man only to find him hunched down by the crate he had been behind and grumbling to himself. Taking a closer look, it was an umbrella he was trying to pull out from a mess of splintered wood.

With a crowing cheer, he yanked it free only to bemoan it's warped state. His hat, however, had managed better as it had rolled away to safety into a corner.

Seiren followed him back towards his car, looking at the damage around them and almost stumbled over a reviving penguin-head.

"Oy! Pengin-san!" She crouched down and poked his chest. "Are you dead, mister penguin?"

Penguin was not so kind in his wake up call. With a sharp nudge of his pointed shoe to the henchman's torso he called for him to stand and get the others.

He extended a hand to Seiren, his voice much gentler, "Come my dear. Let's get you warmed up. I know just the place where we can set you up."

Seiren stood as she regarded him. You could tell a lot about someone by the way they treated their employees and those around them. It was a lesson she learned too late with Madame Galaxia but now...She knew nothing about him and vice versa. They could barely understand one another yet he had spoken gently to her and had generously offered her his coat which she still had on, short and small as it was.

"I don't have anything to lose. I thought I lost my life, my here I am. Somehow." She took his hand as she stepped over the penguin-head. "I guess it can't get much worse."

She slid into the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt as her new benefactor entered from the other side and started the car. He said something in surprise when he saw her strapped in.

"Safety first, Mr. Cobblepot." She patted the strap across her shoulder.

"Cobblepot. Cob-bul-pot."

"Cob-burru-pot."

"Cobblepot."

"Coboropot."

It would have to do for the moment. A gurgle focused his mind to the present.

"We'll get you something to eat too. You like seafood I take it?"

Seiren patted her tummy and gave him a sheepish smile and shrug. What's a girl gonna do but be hungry after a day like this?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: And now the song that brought this fic to life. Annella, Trouble. Electroswing. I don't own it at all. Inspiration only: Siren singing this song about her escapades in front of a crowd. BTW, ever notice that Seiren doesn't have pupils like the other characters? Also, in the manga drawing, she has a long pearl drop that's part of the star and feather earring. Just pointing out a canon design bit to avoid trouble with changing a character.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Iceberg Lounge. We have a special treat for you. Please put your hands together for the newest star singer in her debut,the mystery from the deep, the enchantress of the sea, Seiren!"

The lights dimmed for a moment then flared brightly. A beautiful young woman with long light blue hair in a darker mermaid style dress stood on the singer's platform before the iconic iceberg. She had pearl drop earrings and a starfish diadem on her brow. Her bare shoulders and arms had a pearl-like sheen and those eyes...She started slow, the band a back up for her but quickly started up in an upbeat tempo that had several patrons immediately tapping their feet.

I am in so much trouble  
Busted, arrested, guilty  
Oh you got me  
Again

I'm busted, arrested  
So guilty  
You got me  
There's no excuse for me

An interesting song choice, though he had never heard it before.

Sitting at an ideal spot to see the entrances and exits of the room, piercing blue eyes took in the Penguin's newest acquisition. He hoped to have his questions about her answered. In less than a week of interrupting Penguin's dockside rendezvous, the self proclaimed bird man has a new singer. One who had a program made up about her and tickets to her performances at the Lounge sold out practically over night. That didn't add up to him and he intended to find out everything about her. Where those ears real, for instance? Aliens and Atlantians were, but Arthur and the handful of his people he had seen and met didn't have fin-like ears. Nor were their eyes...otherworldly.

I thought I'd have my way with it  
I only meant to play with it  
I almost had a day with it  
I couldn't get away with it 

She moved elegantly in the limited way that particular gown allowed. Her motions fluid and her voice—amazing. He had heard many talented singers over the years and this was just another clue that she wasn't from around here. So what brought her here and to Penguin specifically? There had been a singer or two who had used their vocals to call out for help but this could just be a performance. She was certainly having fun up there and the crowd was responding positively.

Again and again and again  
Trouble  
Again and again and again  
Trouble

You're busted, arrested  
So guilty  
I got you  
There's no excuse for you

"Mr. Wayne! What a wonderful surprise!"

Penguin held out his hand to Bruce who shook it in turn. "I was lucky to get a ticket to tonight's show," he confessed. "They were practically gone before I even heard about it."

"It's been a busy week for all of us here," Penguin confessed with a nod. "What do you think? Are you enjoying yourself?"

Bruce glanced back at Seiren who was making a smooth turn on the platform.

You thought you'd have your way with it  
You only meant to play with it  
You almost had a day with it  
You couldn't get away with it

"I've never heard anyone like her. The music is great too!"

"Yes, she's really something special. Found her wandering around. Lost. No home, no family, amnesia I think. Brought her here to get her some food and she started singing." The words poured out of his nemesis with a sincerity that had Bruce raise his eyebrows involuntarily. He mastered himself again and gestured for the short man to continue.

"She doesn't seem bothered not knowing what's going, which is strange."

"Did she not want to go to a hospital?"

Penguin shook his head. "Hasn't left the building since she got here. I tried bringing a doctor in—house call, you know—she sent him on his way with a smile. I've never heard the dialect she speaks before, but it sounds like Japanese to me." He shrugged. "Seiren understands me better than I do her, so we've done alright, I think."

"So you have a new permanent singer in residence."

Penguin grinned. "If her plan for this exclusive show idea of her works, and it looks like it does, I suppose I do. The best part is she asks to be paid in fish!" He laughed to himself as he left Bruce alone at his table.

Surely there was more to the arrangement than that. He had heard women joke about willing to work for chocolate but still...

+.+.+

Red stilettos

Red stilettos

Red stilettos

Walking through the city

Bruce had no luck getting a word with the Iceberg's singing sensation. She had admirers for miles and Penguin-heads forming a barrier between them and her when she stepped off the stage for the night.

The next night looked to yield similar results, so he left early and slipped into Penguin's office with no one being the wiser, of course.

Until the door opened.

"What are you doing here?"

The light framed her in silhouette. Was that a power or ability of hers?

Seiren closed the door behind her. Only the moonlight filtering through the window aided their sight.

"This is Mr. Cobblepot's office. I don't think you were invited in here."

Having been caught out, Batman turned his masked gaze on her. "I'm actually looking for answers on you." 

"Me?" she asked surprised, raising a hand to her throat.

"Where did you come from? Why are you here? How do you know The Penguin?"

Seiren was taken aback by the barrage of his questions but gamely walked towards him with a confident grin.

"Hm, if you want answers you'll have to give me something in exchange. That belt for example."

Caught off guard was not something that happened to him often, but curse his...pride if he let an attractive woman get too close to him.

Seiren jumped back with a yelp, holding her injured hand as she eyed him warily. "That's a strong protection you've got on that belt."

Then that little smirk was back. She braced her forearms in front of her as if warding off an attack. "Give it to me! Nega-blaster!"

Nothing happened. He waited. Extended his senses but there was nothing behind him or coming at him from either side. The sudden light in the room alerted him a second too late. She ran.

Seiren would no doubt alert Penguin so it was time for him to leave. The sound of heavy foot falls could only mean the penguin-heads were charging up the stairs but they wouldn't find anything that said he had been their except for Seiren's word.

The next night told him something at least. Seiren had Penguin's trust to a point. Security was tight and they circled around the club endlessly. What security wasn't watching, new and old ones were. Then there was her growing fan base. Eyes were on her constantly and when the show was over, she sequestered herself quickly and quietly and not in any of the rooms Batman had thought the diva would take to.

This would take a little longer. He would wait.

A/N: That's it for this fic! Could there be more? Maybe, but this is all the steam I had for this song inspired fic. I had to work my way from the "club scene" backwards and give a conclusion, if not an ending. Also, yeah without her Animamate bracelets, there was no attack coming. From what Sailor Moon lore tells us, that only happens in the transformed state anyway, not the civilian one. That's not to say that, as an alien, she doesn't have abilities that are unique to her. She may have Atlantean abilities like breathing underwater, swimming really fast without proper fins, maybe talking to the smarter animals of the oceans like dolphins. Who knows? I'd also like to point out that I am aware Seiren has a civilian name, but I chose not to use it.

Batman is almost god-moding in some fanfiction; have you noticed? I'm aware that he's "The Batman" but he's also human. I chose TB: TAS because I could choose the Penguin in the character tab, I loved that series growing up and that is the series that crossed over with Superman TAS and then later they got Justice League/Unlimited.

Why Seiren? She's my favorite character in the later series apart from Minako/Sailor Jupiter. She's never far from my mind as we get closer to MerMay. I even have a mer-sona based on her.

Why Penguin? And it's simply because: where would Seiren perform if she were a swing singer? The Art Deco setting and electro swing (my current music kick) was the answer as I listened to Trouble. Who runs a club that she could sing in? It all happened in that song and so I started writing while the music kept playing. So there's the long and short of it.

Thanks for reading this fic and making it this far. Please leave a Review, even if it's just to say "I read it." Happy reading!


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